


spoils of war.

by AnxiousCupcake



Series: half-baked unrelated plot kitties [15]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Established Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Gabriel is not THAT evil of a dad, Identity Reveal, Implied Enemies AU but open for interpretation, Mentions of Blood, Sad Ending for GABRIEL, angsty, he cares for his son, sword inflicted wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29111736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousCupcake/pseuds/AnxiousCupcake
Summary: Gabriel Agreste had everything he wanted in the palm of his hand but before he could bask in the glory of his victory, he realised that the woman laying nearly dead at his feet was his son's fiancee.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Emilie Agreste/Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth
Series: half-baked unrelated plot kitties [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980556
Comments: 16
Kudos: 125





	spoils of war.

**Author's Note:**

> someone take my laptop away from me. 
> 
> _anyways._

This moment was supposed to be the best moment of Gabriel Agreste’s life, second only to the day his son was born. He’d been waiting for this for almost a decade now, and he wished he could say that victory had never been so sweet. He was going to prove Ladybug wrong today, rub it in her face when his wife woke up, that  _ See? Everything is as it should be! _

But the truth is that he’s never been this scared. He is frozen in his crouch over the unconscious body of his son’s fiancee, her side bleeding from the gash that  _ his  _ blade had made. His blade that he was now too afraid to pull out of her. 

He hears his son land behind him.

“I-Is she okay?” his voice asks him, trembling, and Gabriel is at a loss of words for once. His son clearly hasn't seen the sword yet.

He senses his son’s increasing panic and he can’t bring himself to move from the spot as he stares, stricken, at the still woman where she lay practically pinned to the floor. The only relief is that she is still breathing. He doesn’t want to think of if she wasn’t.

“Father?”

He stares at the earrings in his palm and stands up.

“You should take her to the hospital.”

He finally turns around to meet the eyes of his son, frozen to the spot as she finally appears in his line of sight. The wave of grief and shock that hits him makes Gabriel realise that his son hadn’t known either, and guilt threatens to drown him. He can't imagine a worse fate than finding out something like _that_ in a moment like _this_. He knows what it's like, remembers when the transformation had dropped to reveal his wife right before she fell unconscious. He knows he'll never forget, and he loathes that he did the same thing to his son, blinded by what he presumed his son's needs were despite him saying otherwise.

“Marinette!” 

Her name comes out choked, and he feels the waves of grief building, and building and building. Shock has no room as his vision is pinned to the blade he hadn't dared to touch. He scrambled, skidding across the floor as  he crouches over her, desperate palms hovering over her side as he panics over where to touch her. He just wants to touch her, feel her warm skin beneath his palms to seek the assurance that slow rise and fall of her chest wasn't giving him. 

“Oh, god, _ Mari _ !” he sobs, hands clasping over his mouth.

Gabriel finds that he cannot tear his gaze away from the pitiful scene, but he can sense that his son is too overwhelmed to really do anything about  _ anything  _ right now. So he calls for the ambulance himself, trying to keep his voice neutral. 

“The ambulance is on it’s way.” 

He doesn’t think his son heard him.

His son only mutters in response, voice raspy as he cried. “I should’ve known by now that your promises don’t mean a thing.”

He senses heartbreak, anger and fear from his son as he touches his forehead to hers, crying, as he tries to grasp her limp fingers. Unbidden, he thinks that his son would make a powerful akuma. He blinks at the thought, and feels sick to his stomach. 

He rips the brooch off his person, like it burnt him - and maybe it did in all the ways it really mattered - taking only a moment to stare at it before he drops down on his knees and puts it back in the pocket of the woman’s coat. His son doesn’t notice, as he runs a trembling hand over the blade that he is clearly to afraid to pull out. Gabriel starts to pin the earrings back in their place, when he finally catches his son’s attention.

“Wh-What’re you doing?”

“I’m sorry, Adrien. I’m so sorry,” he replies, voice of full remorse, and yet unable to look his son in the eye. 

The grief leaves his face for a moment, and he’s scowling. Gabriel continues hastily. “You were right. Your mother would hate this.”

Adrien scoffs but doesn’t grace him with a response. Gabriel thinks he deserves it. 

Anger, Gabriel thinks, has set Adrien in motion. There are still tears streaking down his face but Adrien doesn’t say anything as he detransforms. He removes his shirt and tears it in almost half. He swallows thickly, hand-and-cloth hovering over where the blade had found it’s mark. He realises his son's intention and tries to warn him.

“Adrien-”

“ _ Shut up _ !” he hisses in responses, and yet his hand trembles as he curls his fingers around the handle of the rapier. 

He counts under his breath and pulls it out. She wails - Gabriel doesn't dare tell his son that that was a good sign - and Adrien murmurs apologies, sniffling as he starts to tie the shirt around her making sure to seal both the entry and exit wounds. The grey shirt darkens quickly in blood and Adrien curses. 

“You’ll be okay,” says Adrien fervently, almost like a prayer, as he tightens the knot on her side. He leans forward and kisses her forehead. “You’ll be okay, and we’ll have a spring wedding, just like you wanted. And three kids. We'll have the hamster you wanted too, I know I said only cats but if you still want, we can get that hamster. You’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

Gabriel hates himself. 

They hear the sirens overhead. Adrien picks her up, cradling her close to his chest, tucking her head under his chin as he runs past his father, not sparing a glance as he walks out of the chamber, mindful of her legs hitting the doorframe. 

He leaves Gabriel alone in the chamber. He stays there a long time before he can find the courage to walk over to the glass chamber holding his wife. He bids her a quiet goodbye, and calls Amelie. He had a funeral to plan.

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: that is NOT how you treat sword inflicted wounds or any impaling related wounds. i took creative license, and ideally it is recommended to LEAVE THE OBJECT in the body to prevent the person from bleeding to death. 
> 
> maybe i'll do adrien's pov but that'll be SO MUCH angstier holy shit.


End file.
